It was the third month since A-Wang left.
Jiang Mingxi still couldn't adapt.
I started having sleepless nights.
At night, holding his tattered rag doll, he can't help but think about what it's like to have a mother when he closes his eyes.
Does my mom pat me while I'm sleeping?
How to shoot it?
Should I pat your back or your butt?
Will I sleep better if my mom takes pictures of me?
What is my mother like? Does she wear a ponytail like my homeroom teacher, and her eyes squint when she smiles? Or does she have short hair like the headmistress?
When Jiang Mingxi first arrived at the orphanage, she still remembered what her mother was like.
But for some reason, the older he got, the more blurred his memories became. He lost all his memories from before he was three years old, and he didn't know how to get them back.
Is he a bad kid? Otherwise, why can't he keep his mother in his mind?
Gao Le said that his mother was going to beat him for not doing well on his final exams, and Jiang Mingxi was very envious because he never got a beating from his mother.
The dean's mother wasn't his only mother.
Will A-Wang get a beating from his mother now? Is the person who took A-Wang away treating him well? Will A-Wang forget about him?
Why hasn't anyone come to adopt it yet?
I want to be adopted, I want my mom so much.
Night after night, the thoughts kept running through my mind.
Because her condition was so bad, the orphanage director had no choice but to suspend Jiang Mingxi's studies.
It was Friday, Gao Le came to the orphanage to find Jiang Mingxi after school. "My God, why is your face so pale, like you're about to die?"
Upon seeing Jiang Mingxi, Gao Le was stunned into silence.
Jiang Mingxi rolled her eyes at him, then sat down listlessly on a stone at the entrance of the orphanage, ignoring him.
Gao Le got off his bicycle, put it aside, and sat down on the rock. He then took out two packets of instant noodles from his backpack. "These are new instant noodles from the school store. This flavor sells out really fast. When I went there, there were only two packets left, so I bought them all."
As he spoke, he handed Jiang Mingxi a packet.
She ripped open a bag and ate it while saying, "When are you going back to school? I'm so bored! If you don't go back soon, the homeroom teacher is going to give me a new deskmate. A transfer student came to our class, and the teacher wants him to sit in your seat. Hehe, I put bugs in his pencil case for two days, which scared him so much that he changed seats. How about that? Am I nice enough?"
Jiang Mingxi rolled her eyes.
When we sat at the same desk, would you put bugs in my pencil case too?
You even stole my toy.
But last time when Brother A-Wang got into trouble, it was Gao Le who called the police, so he couldn't roll his eyes at Gao Le directly, he could only do it secretly.
He casually replied, "I can go back in a few days when I can fall asleep at night."
Gao Le simply couldn't understand, "How can anyone not be able to sleep? Isn't sleeping just about lying in bed, closing your eyes, and falling asleep? Don't you know how to close your eyes?"
"You have a mother, you definitely wouldn't understand. Brother A-Wang has already been adopted, I wonder when I'll be adopted!" Jiang Mingxi sighed, resting her chin on her hand and said dejectedly.
Gao Le was even more confused. "Look at the bruises on my arm, those are from my mom hitting me. Are you jealous that I get beaten? My mom nags me all the time. I get scolded if the refrigerator door isn't closed properly, if my shoes aren't put away properly, if my desk is messy. Last time I picked up a really pretty stone from the river and wanted to keep it, she insisted that I was picking up trash all the time. It made me so angry! What are you jealous of?!"
Jiang Mingxi blinked. "Maybe you're envious that someone is criticizing you?"
Gao Le:...
"So, I'll start cursing at you now?"
"Roll!"
Neither of them spoke for a moment, as they munched on their instant noodles.
After finishing a bag of instant noodles, Gao Le jumped up, shaking off the crumbs. "I heard from the older brother upstairs that Mingde High School has a basketball game today. Let's go play! Maybe you'll be tired from playing all day and be able to sleep tonight."
Jiang Mingxi didn't want to go.
However, Gao Le has a point; maybe if you're tired during the day, you'll be able to fall asleep at night.
He stood up. "Okay, how do I get there? I don't have a bicycle."
Gao Le patted the car seat repeatedly, "You do my homework for a week, and I'll give you a ride."
Jiang Mingxi was speechless. "Please, I'll go with you!"
Gao Le retorted confidently, "It's so you can sleep! Besides, I'm your savior!"
Jiang Mingxi shut up.
Mingde High School is quite far from the orphanage.
Gao Le rode for a full half hour, his face flushed and neck bulging, before they finally arrived. "I can't go anymore, I have to go buy an ice pop, I'm exhausted, you wait here."
Jiang Mingxi has no pocket money.
Why would an orphanage give children pocket money?
He didn't move.
However, Gao Le would always force-feed him snacks whenever he bought them. At school, he would secretly put bugs in Jiang Mingxi's pencil case to scare him, but he would also force-feed him a snack when he bought it. He would also threaten Jiang Mingxi with his fist: Eat! You can't leave school until you finish it!
" Song Lan, when it's time to go on stage, come with us!" Feng Moshan said, a lollipop dangling from his mouth, his arm around Song Lan's shoulder.
Compared to Feng Moshan's nonchalant attitude, Song Lan wore her school uniform neatly and smartly. "No, I don't know how to fight."
"Bullshit!" Feng Moshan released his shoulder and smacked his arm. "I saw you playing basketball in the neighborhood after school yesterday. Your three-point shooting percentage was amazing. What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Our class doesn't have many players who can actually play in this basketball tournament. If those idiots from Class 8 beat us, they'll be passing by our classroom door and farting every day. Can you tolerate that?"
Song Lan's face remained expressionless, but she refused, "No, you guys fight."
If they hadn't lived in the same neighborhood and Feng Moshan hadn't known about Song Lan's family history and how he had been abused by his mother, Feng Moshan would have joined the others in calling Song Lan a "tyrant."
Always wearing a cold face, pretending to be aloof, what a stupid, melancholic prince!
I'm speaking!
Suddenly a child ran towards them.
He rushed over and grabbed Song Lan's leg, exclaiming, "I've seen this brother before!"